News

Roadshow: Sign of the times, it seems, is maddeningly inaccurate

By Gary Richards grichards@mercurynews.com

Posted:
05/24/2014 03:54:59 PM PDT

Updated:
05/24/2014 03:57:43 PM PDT

Q I commute daily over the San Mateo Bridge, where there is a sign on Interstate 580 west prior to the I-238 cutoff that lists travel times to the bridge. Over a three-week period, that board listed times ranging from 12 to 24 minutes. Yet NEVER has it been even within 5 minutes of correct, and as much as 22 minutes longer than listed. Why even have the reader board listing times to destinations if they are so uselessly wrong?

Thomas Barbeiro

Pleasanton

A Many others are asking the same question.

Q I drive on southbound I-880 every weekday on my way home. At 5:15 p.m., I pass the electronic sign before Fremont Boulevard with estimated travel times. The time for Milpitas is always spot on, but the time for the San Jose airport is usually a good 20-30 minutes too short. Do you know why?

Sarah Gelhardt

San Jose

A Anyone else?

Q What is up with the time estimates on the Caltrans freeway boards? While many others make me wonder (12 minutes to downtown San Francisco from westbound Highway 24 and I-580, even on an uncrowded drive?), I refer specifically to the one before the Wilder offramp on Highway 24 in Orinda.

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For years, in the midst of a long backup to the one bore on weekday afternoons it always read "Oakland 9 mins." I never thought this was accurate, but after the glorious opening of the new fourth bore, it still reads "9 mins."

If I were an attorney with the signboard on the witness stand, I'd ask: "Well, which time were you telling a lie?"

Mark Goodenough

Berkeley

A Down to the South Bay we go.

Q That stupid sign on north Highway 17 west of Los Gatos Boulevard pretty much ALWAYS says 16 minutes to Mountain View on 17 and 85. There is NO WAY this sign is accurate.

Explain how one gets to Mountain View in 16 minutes in rush hour. It's not possible.

Gregg Schlaman

Boulder Creek

A There are problems with Caltrans changeable message signs and one that has vexed transportation officials for some time. The simple explanation is that there is a bug in the software preventing some signs from properly processing incoming data.

Added John-the-MTC-Man:

"The much more complicated explanation is that this bug seems to be multiple-antibiotic-resistant. Caltrans and its contractors have at times seemingly remedied the problem and returned a sign to normal operation only to have the same problem appear on another sign or discover a slight mutation of the original bug where the first fix was attempted, resulting in a similar but slightly different software malfunction."

In the meantime, Caltrans has turned off the sign on west 580 upstream from the 238 split in Castro Valley, along with signs on 580 in Pleasanton, 92 in Foster City and 17 in Los Gatos.